THINKING OF HOME – Fadner Pierre, a French teacher at Barnstable High School, moved to America as a child from Haiti and once lived on Delmas, the main street of Port Au Prince, now devastated following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

The images coming from Haiti are heartrending for all, but none more than one who used to call the country home.

Fadner Pierre, a French teacher at Barnstable High School, was born in the northern part of Haiti. For many years Pierre lived in Port Au Prince, his family home on Delmas, the main road that no longer exists after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that shattered the country Jan. 12.

“We never had an earthquake,” he said, his voice still bearing its rich Haitian accent. “The last one was in 1785.”

With eyes clouded by sadness, Pierre said that he has family in Haiti – aunts, uncles and cousins.

For five days following the earthquake Pierre and the aunts and uncles with him on Cape Cod waited anxiously for word.

“We finally heard from them this past Sunday,” he said. “Their houses are destroyed. There is a loss of property. They are sleeping on the streets.”

In fact, one family home was reduced to rubble. Another sustained deep cracks to its foundation, walls and ceilings. Because the family fears that the building is dangerous, they are afraid to sleep inside its cracked walls, opting instead to camp in the street.

Unfortunately, due to the number of dead, the streets are no more hospitable than cracked homes. When Pierre spoke with family members about what was needed most, they asked for surgical masks.

“The smell of death just hangs everywhere,” he said, recounting their words. “You smell it everywhere you go.”

Pierre first came to America from Haiti when he was 14 in an attempt to reconnect with his father. Family issues prompted a move to Cape Cod, where Pierre had aunts and uncles.

Because Pierre’s primary language was Kreyol, the origins of which are French and African, his on-Cape family helped him learn English.

After attending UMass Amherst and living in various locales, including Martha’s Vineyard, Pierre returned to Cape Cod where he said there are about 500 Haitians residing.

Each year after moving to the US, he would return to Haiti to visit his family. In spite of the country’s ongoing political issues and profound poverty, Pierre held fond memories of its beauty and culture.

Now the images of the media are haunting, serving as a painful reminder that his childhood home is no longer what it once was.

“There is so much pain and agony,” he said. “Words cannot describe it. It’s kind of like seeing a part of you stripped away, a part of your childhood stripped away. I’m losing a part of me.”

According to Pierre and the accounts of the quake’s aftermath from his family and friends in Haiti, what the media has shown doesn’t begin to capture the full extent of the horror.

“Things are much more dire than you see on CNN,” he said.

What concerns Pierre is the focus of media, and to some degree relief workers, on Port Au Prince rather than Leogane, the quake’s epicenter.

Pierre is also concerned that the Haiti he knew will be lost forever. He fears that once cleanup begins, certain parts of Haiti will become more tourist-oriented as rebuilding efforts focus more on business investments rather than residential aid.

“Port Au Prince will be the next San Juan, the next Santo Domingo,” he said. “It will serve the interests of the [investors].”

Because of the country’s extreme poverty, however, Pierre said that might be a welcome change.

“Many Haitians will take that over what they had over a year ago,” he said.

That kind of recovery, however, is years away. For now, Pierre is focusing on finding the best way to help his family members, and on helping raise funds for charitable organizations benefiting Haiti’s people. He has long supported Kole Zepol [“Shoulder to Shoulder”] (www.fonkoze.org) for its efforts regarding Haiti’s children.

For those on Cape Cod longing to help, Pierre asks that they remember that poverty knows no boundaries.

“Poverty in general is not a Haiti issue,” he said. “It’s a humanitarian issue. This time it just happened to be Haiti. Next week it could be somewhere else. Poverty can easily be prevented if we as a nation, as people on earth, join together.”

Pierre also said that the people of Haiti are grateful for the help that has been given so far.

“We are really thankful for the outpouring of help and attention,” he said. “Lives have been saved.”

Though the miles separating him from his struggling family members pain him, Pierre is in the midst of planning a trip to Haiti during February vacation at BHS. When he goes, he said, he will pack suitcases with items his family needs most, including the masks.

“Taking care of the people is the main priority,” he said. “I want to be a witness and see what the country looks like. ”

An indoor soccer game to raise funds for Haitian relief efforts will be held Jan. 24 at 4 p.m. at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center. Admission is $5. Those looking to take part in the game are asked to pay a $10 fee. Players should wear non-marking soles on their shoes.